Sakurai Sho (Part 16)
Sprout
Summary:Aiba chases down Sakurai, hoping that he could apologize to him, but when he headed for Sakurai's apartment he wasn't expecting to a surprise: a side to Sakurai Sho that Aiba least expected of him.
“Where are you going?” Aiba’s mother asked as he pushed past her with his luggage in his hand and Kazu strapped safely onto his baby carrier.
“Out,” was the only reply he gave as he headed for the door. He decided, as soon as Sakurai had left, that he was going to follow him back to apologize to him, but it took him longer to pack his and Kazu’s things so Sakurai might already be halfway home.
“You’re not going to stay?”
Aiba had thought about it earlier as he packed. He has another two months left of vacation that Sakurai himself had given and it would be a waste to go back home to his small apartment. Besides, he had family here to help him take care of Kazu so he wouldn’t be so stressed, but the guilt from earlier overwhelmed him that he couldn’t take it anymore.
“I have to apologize to Sakurai-san.”
“That bas--”
“Don’t start,” Aiba raised his voice, startling Kazu who was already falling asleep. “I’m gonna go back to apologize for you.”
“Masaki…”
“Forget it,” Aiba sighed as he took a step out of the house. “I’ll be going now. Don’t expect me to come back.”
It was heart-breaking to hear his mother cry, but he already decided to follow Sakurai. If he stayed back to make his mother feel better, it would just hinder him and he might end up staying the last two months just to make his mother feel better. But wasn’t that the reason why he moved out? Growing up, his parents were mostly in control of his life and he felt less of a human and more like a puppet. As soon as he got a job, he saved up enough money to buy an apartment of his own and moved out by the time he was nineteen-years-old. Since then, he’s gained full control of his life and it felt great not having his parents telling him to do this and that. Well, he does love his parents equally and he understood why they wanted to control him, but for his mother to talk ill of Sakurai was something Aiba wasn’t going to forgive any time soon. Besides, she barely knew Sakurai and it was so wrong of her to speak to him that way.
“I hope Oh-chan forgives me,” he mumbled to Kazu who was already sleeping so comfortably against his chest. He left the man, his own guest, with his family without thinking and didn’t even bother to let him tag along. He decided on sending him a text instead, probably a paragraph worth of apologies.
As expected, the taxi arrived right in time by the time he finished sending Ohno a text. After putting his and Kazu’s luggage in the back trunk, he sat comfortably in the back seat of the cab. At least, he had nothing to worry for now in this long ride back home.
With his and Kazu’s luggage in his arms, Aiba rushed for the hospital hoping that Sakurai would somehow be there. It was just a thought because Aiba had noticed that Sakurai had a bed in the back of his office and looked really lived-in. He checked his office, but he wasn’t there and neither was he at the canteen nor at the showers nor at the hospital dorm.
“Was Sakurai-san here?” Aiba asked the front desk nurse after half an hour of searching desperately for the man.
“He was, but he just left five minutes ago.”
“Can you tell me his address then?”
“Even as a staff member, I can’t give you that information Aiba-san.”
“I know, but it’s really urgent!”
“Aiba-san…”
“You can give it to him.”
Both Aiba and the nurse jumped in surprise when a voice suddenly came in. Aiba blinked and saw that it was Tatsuya Fujiwara, the second leading doctor in pediatric, leaning against the front desk.
“O-Okay,” the nurse stuttered before busying herself with the computer.
“Sakurai looked depressed when he stopped by asking to take back his three month leave,” Fujiwara informed him. “The director told him to stay on break after seeing his face and also because he’s so hard-working.”
“Yeah,” Aiba agreed. Of all the pediatric doctors he met, Sakurai was the only one who dedicated his time for the children that there were times Aiba caught him eating ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from the lack of self care. (Not that the other doctors were lacking effort; they were best at doing their career anyway which is the reason why their hospital is number one in pediatrics).
“Here’s the address, Aiba-san,” the nurse said as she handed him a blue sticky note with an address neatly written on it.
“Tell him to take better care of himself,” Fujiwara advised. “I’ll see you two in two months then. Take care.”
“You too,” Aiba reciprocated as Fujiwara left and headed towards the hospital dorm.
“Thank you, Kaede-chan,” Aiba grinned, causing the front desk nurse to blush.
“You’re welcome!” She called after as he left the building hoping that he could find Sakurai’s residence.
“Just one more left,” he mumbled as he took said turn and saw that he was standing in front of a tall apartment complex. Aiba could tell that it was recently renovated by the clean, grimy-less walls and it’s modernized pattern color of red and black painted on every other apartment veranda. Compared to Aiba’s apartment complex that looked like it belonged in the nineteenth century, Sakurai’s apartment complex belonged in the now.
“I’m sorry for dragging you along Kazu,” Aiba sighed apologetically as he glanced at his now awake son. Earlier, while he was searching for Sakurai’s residence, they passed by a train station and a bullet train had rushed by. The loud sounds of the train awakened Kazu and it frightened him enough to make him cry. Now that his son was settled and totally awake, Aiba seriously regretted leaving the family beach house. He should have gave it a day before he left, but the image of Sakurai’s apologetic face kept flashing in his mind and it reminded him that this was the best decision he could make. Gulping, he walked inside the posh lobby and pushed the button for Sakurai’s apartment. He really hoped that Sakurai wouldn’t kick him out or get mad at him for bothering him at such a late hour… It was almost 9PM.
“Yes?” Came a groggy reply and Aiba almost didn’t recognize the voice through the speakers.
“It’s me, Aiba. Can Kazu and I come up for a bit?”
“A-Aiba-san?!” Sakurai exclaimed and there was the sounds of dishes crashing loudly against the floor. “I’ll buzz you right in. Just give me a moment!”
“Okay,” Aiba replied, wondering if he had interrupted Sakurai. Just then, there was a buzz sound and a click that came from the door to his right. He immediately walked through and pushed the button for an elevator. Usually, he would take the stairs because he was into being physical, but for Kazu’s sake he decided to take the elevator.
Sakurai’s apartment was on the seventh floor (there were ten floors) and it was the first door as soon as Aiba stepped out of the elevator. He rang the doorbell once and he could hear footsteps and muffled curses behind the door. Finally, the door swung open and Aiba’s eyes widened in shock.
The Sakurai he saw everyday at work was always so well-dressed, clean, and shaved. The Sakurai before him, however, wore dirty clothes that had some dark stains here and there, and it looked as if he hadn’t shaved for weeks. It hasn’t been a day since Sho left the family beach house, yet it seemed as if the man had been holed in the apartment for weeks.
“I’m sorry,” Sho immediately apologized as he stood up straight and moved aside. “Please, come in. I was just making dinner.”
“T-thank you for having me,” Aiba stuttered, unable to take his eyes off of Sakurai’s messy appearance.
“Ah, watch out!” Sakurai grabbed his arm and pulled him. “You almost stepped on that pin.”
He let go of Aiba’s hand, bent down and discarded the pin somewhere within the mess of clothes in the living room. Not only was Sakurai a mess, but his whole apartment was a mess too. It was as if Aiba was seeing another side of Sakurai that was probably not meant for anyone to see.
“Surprised?” Sakurai asked as he pushed off the pile of clothes from the couch and offered a seat to Aiba.
Aiba just nodded in reply.
“I didn’t have time to find anything clean and I was only in my boxers…”
Imagining Sakurai in boxers, walking around the apartment aimlessly heated Aiba’s blood. Sure he had seen him with only swimming trunks on back at the beach, but this was different. Firstly, he was in Sakurai’s house and he had never seen him walk around with just boxers on.
“Do you want to eat? I made -- well I tried to make pasta. It looks burnt…” Sho rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced at Kazu. “Maybe just ramen?”
“It’s okay,” Aiba smiled slightly, suddenly pitying the man before him. Aiba wondered if anyone else knew Sakurai’s miserable condition, or if it was only him. If Sakurai’s family knew, they certainly would have offered him their help, but it seems like there wasn’t any help from his family at all. So am I the only one who knows? He observed Sho from top to bottom and noticed how the Sakurai before him was so much different from the Sakurai he saw at work. At work, Sakurai was always head on and confident in everything that he even gained fans from the childrens’ ward (especially the little girls). However, the Sakurai before him looked as miserable as ever as if there was no hope. He decided then, after staring at Sakurai playing with his fingers, to take Fujiwara’s advice. “I’ll cook something up. Take care of Kazu for me.”
Sakurai looked up from the dirty floor. “Really?! No, you can’t, Aiba-san. You’ve already taken care of me so much. I owe you.”
Aiba grinned. “Then you owe me the time right now to take care of Kazu while I make us something to eat.”
“Aiba--”
“Look, he’s about to cry!” He exclaimed and he handed his son to Sakurai. “Play with him, entertain him!”
“But--”
“Now, where’s the kitchen,” he wandered off, ignoring Sakurai’s protest. If no one was going to take care of Sakurai and if Sakurai couldn’t do it himself either, then he was glad to help him take a big step. But first, he had to cook dinner because the pasta Sakurai had cooked look more of like charcoal.
TBC
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